Olympus Has Fallen In Trouble For Alert

A year after its release, FilmDistrict’s White House hostage thriller “Olympus Has Fallen” has gotten into trouble with various media companies being slugged with proposed steep fines by the FCC.

The fines are over a TV spot using an alert sound very similar to the U.S. Government’s distinctive Emergency Alert System warning. The TV spot shows glimpses of the White House under attack along with text lines saying “This Is Not a Drill/Test”.

The FCC says in a statement it has “long prohibited the transmission of actual or simulated EAS Attention Signals or tones in circumstances other than a real alert or an authorized test of the EAS system.”

Viacom is expected to be hit hardest with a $1.1 million fine for airing the ad 108 times. Also scoring fines are NBCUniversal for $530,000 and ESPN for $280,000.

The cable companies aren’t participants of the EAS program, but the rules governing the use of the tones reportedly applies across the board.